Greek and Roman legionnaires used body armor as protective covering as a defense against weapons and projectiles. This armor included breast, hip and leg members to protect the body and legs of a warrior. Body armor is presently in use by the police and military. Protective sport garments are used in contact sports, such as baseball, softball, hockey, soccer, football and rugby. These garments include sport pants and trousers having pads for protection from impacting forces from balls, sticks and player contact. Examples of protective sport garments are discloses in the following U.S. Patents.
W. T. Stall in U.S. Pat. No. 759,833 discloses a padded garment comprising a trouser having a plurality of pads permanently secured to the outer surface of its body and legs. The inner surface of the trouser is smooth and adapted to fit the wearer without irritation due to the pads. The pads include left and right thigh pads permanently secured to the materials of the trouser legs with stitching.
J. W. Atack et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,844 discloses a trouser undergarment made of elastic stretchable material designed to fit the contours of the body of a person. Auxiliary pockets at the knees and thighs accommodate padding. The thigh pockets are stitched only on three sides with the top open to permit the insertion of padding.
J. T. Ross in U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,726 discloses a sport pants having a trunk and legs of elastic stretchable material with hip and knee pockets for accommodating pads of resilient closed cell foam material which are removable and replaceable in the pockets for protection of the wearer. The sport pants is washable underwear with padding to mitigate scrapes and bruises in athletic competition and games.
D. C. Strickland and M. T. Cheatwood in U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,222 discloses an athletic garment with guard members to protect the athletic inner thighs. The legs of the garment have pockets on the inside of the thigh portions of the garment's legs for holding pads. The pads are flexible so that they will conform to the shape of the thigh and bend when the athlete moves. In use, the pads absorb impact and shock forces of a ball or other blow to the inner thigh during sport activities. The pads are not removable from the pockets. The positions of the pads relative to the legs of the garment are not adjustable, as the pads are in fixed positions within the pockets.
The objects and advantages of the invention are embodied in the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the athletic garment with adjustable and removable leg shields.